Kings Have Signed John Salmons - Bye, Bye Bonzi!!

[Warhawk]

What people aren't getting is thet we just DID do a sign and trade...for John Salmons at $5mil per. While canceling our MLE along the way.

How much crappier was it going to get? The Foster and Jasikvecius deal looks like solid gold by comparison.


We lost everything in one gulp -- Bonzi, whatever Bonzi could bring in an S&T, our remaining caproom, and our MLE. As long as we were being cleaned out, the least they could have done was remove that obnoxious giant gold 6 on the front lawn while they were at it.

Confuscious say team that trade Bonzi Wells for John Salmons straight up be team going in wrong direction.

I think you are being a bit disingenuous here.

We made at least one (and according to GP - multiple) "reasonable" offer(s) to Bonzi who's agent basically told us to get lost. By reasonable I mean significantly above any offer he could have received from anyone else and long-term. We tried to S&T him and apparently got bupkus in offers for returning players since no move has been made. GP wanted Bonzi back, but Bonzi has other ideas, apparently.

When it became apparent that Bonzi wasn't coming back, we went out and got a backup PG in a guy who can play the 1-3 positions for less than half the price of what Bonzi was probably looking for. It's not a S&T, no matter how you'd like to paint it in that light.

We have several guys that can play the 2-3 positions including a young guy who appears to be ready for the starting role in Kevin. Grooming of the other youngsters and having Salmons gives us lots of options.

Do I wish we didn't have to use most of the MLE and had been able to pursue a quality big man instead? Yes. Am I privy to what goes on behind the closed doors during negotiations? No. Do we have any idea what this roster is going to look like in another month or two? No, and GP hinted that more trades are probably coming. Let's see what results.

I am not jumping for joy at this signing, but multiple quality GMs were after the guy and we didn't pay much more than the other offers he received. I'm willing to wait and see what this guy can show when he gets here.

 

[e'tinas]

I think you are being a bit disingenuous here.

We made at least one (and according to GP - multiple) "reasonable" offer(s) to Bonzi who's agent basically told us to get lost. By reasonable I mean significantly above any offer he could have received from anyone else and long-term. We tried to S&T him and apparently got bupkus in offers for returning players since no move has been made. GP wanted Bonzi back, but Bonzi has other ideas, apparently.

When it became apparent that Bonzi wasn't coming back, we went out and got a backup PG in a guy who can play the 1-3 positions for less than half the price of what Bonzi was probably looking for. It's not a S&T, no matter how you'd like to paint it in that light.

We have several guys that can play the 2-3 positions including a young guy who appears to be ready for the starting role in Kevin. Grooming of the other youngsters and having Salmons gives us lots of options.

Do I wish we didn't have to use most of the MLE and had been able to pursue a quality big man instead? Yes. Am I privy to what goes on behind the closed doors during negotiations? No. Do we have any idea what this roster is going to look like in another month or two? No, and GP hinted that more trades are probably coming. Let's see what results.

I am not jumping for joy at this signing, but multiple quality GMs were after the guy and we didn't pay much more than the other offers he received. I'm willing to wait and see what this guy can show when he gets here.

Well said Warhawk. I as well am waiting to see what happens in the next months before I get my panties in a bunch.

 

[sactown100]

Andre Iguodala might be the only guy that isn't totally ruined by the ball hogging of Webb and A.I. and John Salmons played at the same spot. We have no idea what Salmons can do... the 76'ers is a terrible place to be right now if your not Webb or A.I. well actually it sucks for those 2 as well... we should know better than anyone... the role players have to play all the def. and then have to watch Webb stand still with the ball and kill the offense or launch one of his 19-20ish jumpers or give it to A.I. to dribble around everyone on the court. thats not basketball and that team will never win anything with both those guys. Im willing to say that Webber will never be a winner, and will kill whatever team hes on from here on out... A.I. is about the same. Salmons could very easly be a dimond in the rough.

 

[BigWaxer]

I am not jumping for joy at this signing, but multiple quality GMs were after the guy and we didn't pay much more than the other offers he received. I'm willing to wait and see what this guy can show when he gets here.

That is the thing that is weird and maybe something I don't see in the entire picture here. I have thought about it, but some things are not adding up to me right now.

Also I noticed, teams on the move or teams in a upper mid teir were looking at him. Maybe he can fill that best case 8... 9,10 guys. I just don't see him as a 6th,7th guy.

 

[ezekielbear]

I don't think many are upset at who they signed...I'm not. Salmons is a talented guy off the bench.

However, that is what I believe people ARE upset about.

He is a bench player. A role player. A decent one at that. And he should not be getting pretty much all of our MLE nor a 5 year deal.

JMO.

 

[Amanjoy]

And the penny pinching continues...

I would look at it as more of a youth movement. Now, that Bonzi appears to be leaving, it appears that every one of our contributing players (excluding benchwarmers, Potapenko and Corliss) is under the age of 30 or right at it (Brad Miller). Shareef will be 30 this season, Bibby is 28, KT will be 29 soon, and the rest of the guys are all youngsters. From what I'm seeing, it looks like Petrie wants to breed talent and have them learn to win together instead of bringing in vets like he did a few years ago.

 

[NewMonkey]

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone post that Salmons got a 5 year deal for $25.5 million. The guy is worth 3 years, $10 million at the most. Can anyone think of a worse deal in the Geoff Petrie era?

Edit - Brick posted the numbers earlier in the thread. Again, can anyone think of a worse deal (free agent, trade) in the Geoff Petrie era? At least guys like Massenberg and Ostertag were on short term deals.

 

[G_M]

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone post that Salmons got a 5 year deal for $25.5 million. The guy is worth 3 years, $10 million at the most. Can anyone think of a worse deal in the Geoff Petrie era?

Edit - Brick posted the numbers earlier in the thread. Again, can anyone think of a worse deal (free agent, trade) in the Geoff Petrie era? At least guys like Massenberg and Ostertag were on short term deals.

I know that this signing is unpopular. But, I would suggest that to call this the worse deal before the guy plays a single game is a tad premature.

I think the Kings overpaid for Webber, Bibby, and Christe. Certainly in terms of bidding against yourself to keep players. You could make the argument that you had to overpay Webber to keep the "franchise" player happy. I understand that to a certain extnet. However, the reality is that there were no legitimate competing offers for Christie or Webber.

So, lesson learned.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Wonder what Artest is feeling right now?

 

[nbrans]

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone post that Salmons got a 5 year deal for $25.5 million. The guy is worth 3 years, $10 million at the most. Can anyone think of a worse deal in the Geoff Petrie era?

Edit - Brick posted the numbers earlier in the thread. Again, can anyone think of a worse deal (free agent, trade) in the Geoff Petrie era? At least guys like Massenberg and Ostertag were on short term deals.

He certainly hasn't done anything to justify $25.5 million yet, but as Bonzi just discovered, it doesn't matter what you're actually worth, all that matters is what the market will bear. And given that two teams pretty much offered him what we did and other teams were rumored to be interested, $25.5 million seems to be what the market will bear for his services. Let's just hope he justifies that deal.

 

[ezekielbear]

Wonder what Artest is feeling right now?

Wonder what Bonzi is feeling right now.

He better install a security system...being Artest said he'll kill him. lol

 

[kingsfanofthemonth]

I was holding out hope that Bonzi and his agent would come to there senses and Bonzi would resign. But I applaud Geoff Petrie for having the moxi to make this deal, which makes us better in the long run. No matter what Brick or any of the other haters want to think, the kind of contract that some of us wanted Bonzi to sign, is the same kind of contract we would all be bitching about in two years when we have an overweight banger coming off the bench who can't play from the outside and clogs the middle. Unlike Bonzi, with Salmons contract there's a chance that in two years he'll be considered underpaid, like BJax was.

I think Salmons stats are decieving, but we just acquired another piece in our 1/2/3 rotation that can score, pass, and handle the ball. I'll give you my home address Brick and you can burn my house if Salmons has a 10 turnover game like Bonzi. I can't believe all the doubters that come out who look at Salmons stats and write him off immiedietly. He has talent and 4 years in the league, which means to me that he's ready to take it up a notch. Not to mentioned he had offers from both the Colengelo's who deserve to be respected almost as much as Petrie.

About the status of our team. I really like the back court rotation we have now with Salmons. I see Hart getting no minutes in the rotation and Ronnie Price stepping up and getting some consistant reserve minutes. He is going to be a very solid back up point gaurd and only needs time on the floor to learn. From reading the Olympic articles, Brad seems to be in great shape, lost 10-15 lbs, which was my plee to him for the off season. I am very happy with how he looks. We keep Corliss because a really good vetern guy, having an expiring contract is also deserable, and he deserves to retire as a King. We obviously keep SAR and we have can look forward to the developement of Amundson, so we'll see what happens with KT/Potato/Hart/Bonzi S&T. I think Petrie has some moves he would like to do but he won't take any risky deals. We would ideally like to trade KT for Magloire but that leaves some holes at power forward. So we'll have to see what Petrie does in the reminder of the off season but we have a brighter future without Bonzi. One last thing about Bonzi, the deal that was offered him balenced the best interests of Bonzi and the Kings. You can be a team player on the floor, but you also have to be team player when considering your options. A lot of great players, including Artest, would rather have less money to keep their franchise in better shape for signing players. Bonzi is not like that, and it just proves what I always thought about him, he says the right things on TV and radio, but he truley is not a team player, and I for one am happy he's gone.

 

[gman23]

I'm going to be the off character of this group for saying I'm happy. Now Kevin will start and we will get to see what the young pup can accomplish. Teams are always going to change and I accept all changes because WE cant' stop them. So let's hope we have a productive team with the pieces we have. Who knows the season hasn't started yet, maybe we get a another piece to the puzzle

 

[Sac.Kings]

I am not angry at this move. We have to wait and see what happens, but now we have a backup PG and maybe he could be worth all this money. Bonzi is gone--fine. We offered, he declined and it was his choice. Now we are a little deeper than before. Besides, i want to see Martin start.

 

[Viking]

Viking, what in the hell?

That's what I was wondering.

Unless you're referring to my suggestion that we sign a tree as backup C or something.

 

[Bricklayer]

I am not angry at this move. We have to wait and see what happens, but now we have a backup PG and maybe he could be worth all this money. Bonzi is gone--fine. We offered, he declined and it was his choice. Now we are a little deeper than before. Besides, i want to see Martin start.

No, we are considerably shallower, not deeper. You don't go from Bonzi Wells to John Salmons and gain depth. Regardless of whether Bonzi started with Maritn off the bench or Bonzi played 6th man, that first guard off the bench was a lot better in the Bonzi scenario.

We are generally weaker now than we were the day we got eliminated in the first round a couple of months back, and in particular lost the only reason we weren't swept.

As an aside, if the idea is to build with youth for the future, not to contend (and we are further than ever from that goal), then the next up on the chopping block would be Brad and SAR, who will both be getting long in the tooth by the time the kiddie corps shakes itself out and is ready to be factor (if they are). Of course given that this move was a backup plan, I'm not at all sure that the build with youth approach was the overall plan until 10 days ago.

 

[KingKong]

Just a question... Brick what would you be willing to pay to keep Bonzi here?

 

[Bricklayer]

Just a question... Brick what would you be willing to pay to keep Bonzi here?

Bonzi isn't coming here. Nor bringing anything back. He's a net loss.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Bonzi isn't coming here. Nor bringing anything back. He's a net loss.

You completely avoided the question.

 

[NewMonkey]

You completely avoided the question.

I could be off-base, but I think I heard at one point that Brick is a lawyer. Regardless, he's practicing the old adage "Answer the question you wish you were asked."

I'd have paid Bonzi $40-45 million for five years, same as Cuttino Mobley got from the Clips last season.

 

[Troy]

for the money we just threw at salmons, we could've had elson and jackie butler, plugging a much greater need. let the summer leaguers fight out for the 1-3 spots if you're going with the youth movement. salmons is not bringing what these kids aren't already.

I agree, I really wanted Elson and he signed for very little, we could have easily had him amoung others. I sure hope this isn't the end of offseason moves, because it would be pretty sad if it was. We are going to get killed on the boards.

 

[Viking]

You completely avoided the question.

I don't care that we didn't resign bonzi. I'm not denying that that might have been impossible if he was being a general *** and holding out for more moolah.


I just don't like signing John Salmons for 25 million over 5 years. I think that's severely overpaying for his type of "talent" which if he indeed has, it's unrealized, and it's not because of not playing.

 

[BigSong]

I agree, I really wanted Elson and he signed for very little, we could have easily had him amoung others. I sure hope this isn't the end of offseason moves, because it would be pretty sad if it was. We are going to get killed on the boards.

sure we might have the cap room, but that doesn't necessarily mean players are available. Elson i'm sure looked at his options saw no real legit starter at the center spot for the spurs, and chose that to be his best option

 

[Kings113]

Elson would of been nice, but we were still dealing with Bonzi. There are still trades, 2-3 months left in the off-season, and maybe the LLE.

 

[ParniValjak]

That is the thing that is weird and maybe something I don't see in the entire picture here. I have thought about it, but some things are not adding up to me right now.

Also I noticed, teams on the move or teams in a upper mid teir were looking at him. Maybe he can fill that best case 8... 9,10 guys. I just don't see him as a 6th,7th guy.

Those teams were not going to give up 22-23 million for 5 years for a 8, 9 or 10 guy. If they are offering that much money then they see him as more of a contributor than you are expecting from the so called roster fillers.

 

[kingsrock783]

Wonder what Artest is feeling right now?

"just one more season of this crap and hellooooooooo new york"

Bonzi was Ron's best friend on the team so its obvious that he's upset. And who's gonna rebound for us other than Big Ron......Brad Miller???

 

[VF21]

Bonzi was Ron's best friend? I don't think that's even a minor consideration. Ron Artest is not going to lose any sleep over Bonzi's departure. It's part of the business. And just so you know, Ron is really high on Kevin Martin, so he might actually be pleased the young gun is gonna get his real chance.

 

[gunks]

"just one more season of this crap and hellooooooooo new york"

Bonzi was Ron's best friend on the team so its obvious that he's upset. And who's gonna rebound for us other than Big Ron......Brad Miller???

KT! Once he started he actually averaged more rebounds then Bonzi. Now if only Muss can get him to stop being a baby and hussle when coming off the bench we're set!

I dont think the rebounding will take too much of a hit. Most of Bonzi's boards were taken away from...Brad and Shareef (whose numbers should go up next season in that department).

His offensive rebounding will be missed however.

And Bonzi should really be worried about Artest now. Didnt Ron make numerous threats of violence towards him if he left?

 

[Troy]

KT! Once he started he actually averaged more rebounds then Bonzi. Now if only Muss can get him to stop being a baby and hussle when coming off the bench we're set!

I dont think the rebounding will take too much of a hit. Most of Bonzi's boards were taken away from...Brad and Shareef (whose numbers should go up next season in that department).

His offensive rebounding will be missed however.

And Bonzi should really be worried about Artest now. Didnt Ron make numerous threats of violence towards him if he left?

We still need that big guy off the bench for the 4 & 5, I wouldn't put everything on Brad and SAR getting our rebounds.

If Bonzi didn't sign Ron and Mike were going to tie Bonzi up and beat him mercilessly. I guess we'll have to wait for Bonzi to play the Kings with his new team and then Ron and Mike can get him in the locker room.